Page 104 of Empire of Dark
I hadn’t seen Cletus in five years. Not since the night three of our brothers had died. The night I recovered Venetia.
Frankly, I’d thought Cletus was dead. Killed by the panthenites long ago. He’d always had a pretty price on his head. But he was also a master at hiding away from everyone.
Hell, I’d send a blade straight into his heart right now for what he did to Venetia, if I didn’t need him alive for just a few minutes more.
I suspected he knew too much—knew all about Eustice’s dealings with the Genora family. How Eustice was planning to usurp me as head of the family. Who he was working with. And I needed to extract that knowledge from Cletus before I sent him to dust.
More clanging. Faint.
I pinned Cletus with a glare, interrupting his tirade. “You knew our brother was dealing with Genora?”
Both of his arms flew up at his sides. “Of course I knew—I know everything. I watch everything.”
Interesting.
“Where have you been hiding the last five years?”
“Everywhere—nowhere. None of your business, you twat. What I want to know is what you plan on doing to the Genoras—I’ve been waiting for you to make a move and you’ve done nothing—when nothing less than complete annihilation is called for. Complete. There is no mercy on this regard.”
More clanging.
I tuned Cletus out. His words didn’t pause at the clanging, for he couldn’t hear it.
Not like I could. He wasn’t connected to Netherstone like I was. The blood of these stones beat in my veins. I could hear every footfall, every mouse scurrying in the corners of the castle when I tuned into it.
The clanging, it wasn’t right.
Security trained outside or in the upper level of the coach house. This was coming from somewhere inside the castle.
My look shifted to the floor and then back up to Cletus, my eyes narrowing on him.
He couldn’t have brought someone else with him, could he?
I made his men wait outside the outer castle walls, as his sudden presence here was unnerving. But maybe more men were behind him, waiting until Cletus made it inside before attacking?
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The beat of the swords crashing into each other was vicious. Frantic. Desperate.Wrong.
I threw my hand up. “Cletus, stop for a moment.” I stepped over to the bar that sat opposite my desk and poured him a very full glass of brandy, then shoved it into his hand. “Sit. Drink. Calm so that your words make sense instead of rambling. I have to attend to something, then I will be back and will listen to the full of what you need to say.”
His mouth curled into a snarl, but he swallowed half the glass and flopped down into the leather couch that sat in front of the fireplace.
His agitation quelled for the moment, I left the room, notching into place the lock on the outside of the door. It wouldn’t stop him for long, but long enough for me to know he was leaving the study.
My strides quick, I followed the constant clanging of swords. Down, down, down into the bowels of the castle.
In the undercrofts, I sped through the tunnels that snaked a maze through the dank stones, as I could hear shouting—Ada yelling.
I yanked to a stop at the entrance to an unused storage room and my body stilled for a long second.
Ada and Venetia slammed swords at each other—harder than I’d ever seen either one of them swing a sword. Harder than I thought either one was capable of.
Venetia blocked a blow and then screamed, charging and swinging blindly at Ada, ready to take her head off.
Her sword cut across Ada’s arm, not piercing the skin, but it shoved Ada back against a wall. For a second I thought to intervene, but then Ada slammed a foot out, hitting Venetia in the stomach and knocking her back, sending her feet stumbling.
Ada pounced, slamming her sword at Venetia before she could gain her footing, every step Venetia took in retreat unsteady, slipping. “You’re weak now. Weak and now I’m going to kill you with one blow.”